Tag Archives: blogging

Much discussion has erupted lately on the topic of partnerships between mom bloggers and marketers. It seems to have started with a call for a PR “blackout” from Momdot, a mom blogger community:

MomDot is challenging bloggers to participate for one week in August in a PR BLACKOUT challenge where you do not blog ANY giveaways, ANY reviews, and Zero press releases. In fact, we don’t want you to talk to PR at ALL that whole week. We want to see your blog naked, raw, and back to basics. Talk about your kids, your marriage, your college, your hopes, your dreams, your house and whatever you can come up with for one week.

Burnout, not objectivity, is the reason behind MomDot has recommended a blackout. They suggest that the array of product reviews, promotions, giveaways, etc. in which mom bloggers engage is distracting them from more general content about home and kids. Nevertheless, the question of blogger objectivity has come up in posts about the blackout, and the issue of objectivity, paid sponsorship and editorial vs. commercial content has been a hot topic in the blogosphere for awhile, and recently in a New York Times article, as increasing numbers of marketers link up with bloggers for the purpose of reviewing or promoting their products. Recently the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that it is reviewing its guidelines for “endorsements and testimonials in advertising” with bloggers in mind.

Compensation for product reviews takes on different forms — e.g. pay per review, free stuff, promotional giveaways — but what is common to all is that most bloggers will only agree to the deal if the marketer in question allows them to write honestly about the product. While bloggers say this allows them to maintain their integrity, one has to wonder if — even with the best of intentions — they can remain truly objective when being compensated. Won’t there be a little voice, whispering from the subconscious depths of their mind, suggesting that, despite everything the marketer says, a negative assessment will reduce the chances of being offered a paid review in future?

That’s why marketers shouldn’t simply agree to honesty and objectivity from their blogging partners, they should embrace it actively and vocally. Here’s why it’s in their interest to do so:

The online social community space rewards transparency, while it sniffs out and exposes secrecy and collusion. A marketer who tries to manipulate product reviews will be found out eventually. That negative word-of-mouth will spread exponentially and the overall take away will be that something must be wrong with your product, if you weren’t confident enough to let the product speak for itself, free from manipulation.

In contrast, a marketer who makes it known that it demands absolute honesty from its blogging partners builds trust and credibility. It tells people that you’re completely confident in the quality of your product.

Negative criticism isn’t a threat, it’s a fantastic source of knowledge and opportunity. You can learn better than any focus group or quantitative test about the strengths and weaknesses of your product through an honest assessment from a blogger and the ensuing comments and online conversations about that assessment.

The only thing you have to fear is fear itself. The blogosphere will forgive a mistake, provided that you listen to the criticism, acknowledge the problem and keep everyone informed about what you are doing to fix things. You have nothing to fear, and everything to gain, provided you listen, show that your listening, take action and follow up.

Several blog posts I read on the topic of transparency and objectivity talk about the steps bloggers should take to make their disclosure and review policies clear to marketers who approach them. This suggests that bloggers feel the need to defend their wish to remain transparent and objective when it comes to paid-for product reviews. Similarly, the FTC’s actions to revise its policies regarding endorsements and testimonials to address online practices would indicate that it doesn’t think the marketing community is taking adequate steps to self-regulate. The alleged need for these policy changes implies that, generally speaking, marketers are more inclined to manipulate online reviews and comments about their products, rather than encourage the transparency and objectivity that brings true value to both the marketer and the customer.

It’s hard to say definitively if marketers are “doing the right thing” when it comes to embracing objectivity from their blogging partners. However, when I think of all the articles, posts and comments I have read on the issue, I can’t recall any I’ve seen that have come from a marketer. If you have, please let me know.

I came across two interesting blog posts discussing the fact that social media seems to be off to a slow start in Germany compared to the United States. This reflects my own experience, as I find that most of the social media blogs I read (and podcasts I listen too) originate from my native land. There are a couple of exceptions, and of course, as I am an American living in Germany, I have a certain propensity to read and listen to commentary in my mother tongue. But still there is no doubt that compared to the number of blogs and podcasts originating State side, it’s slim pickings in good old Germany.

The post in ReadWriteWeb concerns itself mostly with a comparison between blogging and social media activity in the US and Germany. More interesting are Felix Salmon’s 10 reasonswhy the blogosphere is failing to thrive in Germany. While he writes specifically about blogs on economics, I think the points he’s identified apply to blogging in general. These include:

A high degree of respect for traditional standard qualifications and sources of authority. (As the world knows, questioning authority has not been a historical strength of the Germans — at least not during the first half of the last century.)

A general discomfort on the part of Germans to be seen as outsiders, as many bloggers see themselves.

Less inherent respect for the voice of the people or the common man, compared to America.

A propensity to be methodical and comprehensive in expressing a point of view, whereas the style of blogs (not to mention micro-blogs) favors the succinct, the sound byte and the spontaneous. (Think of Wagner vs. Puccini.)

When people ask me about certain typical characteristics of Germans (respect for authority, heightened sensitivity to instability, initial caution and reserve in regard to strangers), I cite one of my favorite theories. It all goes back to the Thirty Years’ War. This was one of the bloodiest conflicts in European history, it was played out mostly on German soil, a substantial portion of the civilian population was slaughtered, and society as a whole was shaken to its foundations. It was a watershed event that left a deep and enduring need in the collective German psyche to maintain social stability and established institutions.

I am more optimistic than the writers of these posts about the future of blogging and social media in Germany. By virtue of the borderless social web, younger generations of Germans are being exposed to, influenced by and participating in this new style of shared thinking and ideas. And in so doing, perhaps they are eliminating the last vestages of an ingrained, common societal “angst” and exaggerated caution when it comes to expressing themselves spontaneously. One hopes this will set their social media spirit free and enable them to embrace the blogosphere and podosphere with the same gusto and enthusiasm as their fellow post-generation-Xers on the other side of the Atlantic.

I’ve written before on this blog about the partnership between Saturn cars and the amazing Manic Mommies — Erin Kane and Kristin Brandt, two moms “trying to do it all, and then some…” according to the lead-in to their entertaining weekly podcast about the triumphs and tribulations of motherhood, family and career.

The Manic Mommies -- Erin Kane and Kristin Brandt

That cooperation has now moved up a notch. In the past, Saturn’s involvement has been in support of specific Manic Mommy events. But in a recent podcast, Erin and Kristin announced a new deal with Saturn involving an ongoing year-long sponsorship of the blog and podcast.

What especially struck me about this what not so much the deal itself, but the refreshingly open and transparent way Erin and Kristin informed their audience about it.

I’m not a mom, I’m not even a dad, except perhaps to my parrot Emil, who does indeed have the intelligence and temperament of a 2-year old. Perhaps that qualifies me somewhat as a rightful Manic Mommy listener. (I can certainly relate to leading a manic life.) But since I work on the Pampers brand at Saatchi & Saatchi, and like to stay in touch with what’s on the minds of moms, and as I am also interested in social media, the Manic Mommies are a natural for me. So as a loyal listener to the podcast, I also appreciated the way Erin and Kristin informed me and the rest of their loyal fans about their new relationship with Saturn.

Jill Lajdziak of Saturn

The centerpiece of the announcement was an interview on Episode 153 of the podcast with Jill Lajdziak, Saturn’s General manager, and — appropriately — a mom. Kristin talked with Jill about the sponsorship in a conversational way that fit perfectly with the tone of the podcast. Jill, like other marketers who have been on the show, understands that to be effective in this space, they’ve got to be people first, marketers second. (I wonder if this is due at least in part to a good briefing from Erin and Kristin.) So before the ladies talked about the sponsorship, they first shared experiences about being a mom, exchanged thoughts about kids and cars, moved on to the topic of safety and, before you knew it, Saturn. Saturn was built into the conversation, rather than the conversation being built around Saturn.

They went on to talk about what Saturn hopes to get out of the relationship with the Manic Mommies and their audience. Saturn will set up a forum on the Manic Mommies blog. This will be a place for special announcements, but Jill mainly sees the forum as a unique opportunity to connect with women in an environment that enables open and honest dialog. This is pretty innovative when you think about it. Sponsorship of a blog not merely to promote a product, but to leverage the relationship these two bloggers have with their community in order to talk with current and potential owners more freely and effectively. Innovative as well is the fact that the forum will be built into the Manic Mommies community, rather than requiring moms to go to the Saturn web site. So moms are on their territory rather than Saturn’s, which should lead to a much more open and truthful conversation.

You could tell that the Manic Mommies were concerned their audience might worry that we would now be inundated with commercial interruptions from Saturn. So they reassured everyone that not a whole lot would change, and the main thing people would notice would be the Saturn forum. Kristin encouraged people to tell Saturn what they really thought “and don’t sugar coat it!” Saturn wasn’t “just just looking to hit us all with advertising … they really want your opinion.”

In their typical charming way Erin and Kristin stressed that Saturn’s support would enable them to provide even better content to their listeners and readers, for example by allowing the both of them to conduct more live interviews, spend more time writing on the blog, and as Erin pointed out, “actually spend more time thinking about the show rather than just four minutes before we start recording.”

It will be interesting to watch how the partnership plays out over the next year. And if it stays true to the spirit of participation and conversation between the marketer and the audience, rather than becoming just a new way of pumping brand messages to “target consumers.” From what I’ve seen so far from the Manic Mommies, I have every faith that we’ll be seeing something that stays true to that spirit.

So congratulations to Erin and Kristin on their deal with Saturn, kudos to Saturn for upping their involvement in social media, and good look to both in the coming year. As Erin quipped at the close of Episode 153, “If the Manic Mommies can save the auto industry, you know, single handedly, my work here is done.” Erin, I’d be thrilled as anyone if the Manic Mommies were to save the American automobile industry, but even if you do, your work won’t be done. We’ll all still need our weekly fix of the Manic Mommies.

One last thing. Erin and Kristin, if you’re reading? I know I’m a guy, but can I join the Big Tent? I don’t want to crash the party if it’s only open to “gal pals,” but I’d love to be able to visit the Saturn forum and see what your readers and Saturn are saying.

The Mayo Clinic would not naturally have occurred to me as a topic for Steve’s Social Media Soapbox. Not because social media can’t create value for medical institutions and their patients. On the contrary — social media and online communities can obviously be of tremendous help to people challenged by illness, investigating treatments, dealing with the side effects of medications and coming to terms with a host of other health related issues. Similarly, the people who treat and care for patients can surely profit from the broad ranging opportunities for collaboration and sharing that social media tools offer.

But as a friend of mine who works for a health care communications agency told me, social media is fraught with legal implications and risks for pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions. For example, a drug maker that hosted a web site allowing patients to share information about a particular medication would apparently be responsible for documenting and, I believe, investigating all claims of side effects that weren’t yet covered in established protocols. There are also obvious issues with confidentially and patient privacy.

That’s why when the Mayo Clinic recently launched Sharing Mayo Clinic, a blog for patients, families and staff to share stories, it seemed to be a breakthrough. In an excellent interview with Shel Holtz on the For Immediate Release podcast (2/05/09), Lee Aase, who heads up social media for the Mayo Clinic, pointed out that there really wasn’t an issue regarding patient privacy. According to the Mayo’s lawyers, “If someone decides to tell their story on our site, that’s them disclosing their information, not us disclosing their information.” (This and other quotes of Mr. Aase are from the For Immediate Release interview.)

The upside is tremendous. In the past the Mayo Clinic posted patient stories on their web site. But these were written by a freelancer, who first interviewed the patient, and then wrote the story. According to Aase, they didn’t match the impact and authenticity of people telling their own stories in their own words as they now can do on Sharing Mayo Clinic. And clearly this transparency is much more credible and trustworthy to patients seeking information about the character and quality of treatment at Mayo. It’s also highly motivating for Mayo staffers to read these patients’ stories, which often praise the professionalism and humanity of the clinic’s personnel across the board. Finally, it also costs much less than hiring freelance writers!

Sharing Mayo is only the latest of several blogs from the Mayo Clinic. These cover — among other topics — health policy, clinic news and diseases, treatments and therapies.

Especially pioneering for a medical institution, the Mayo Clinic provides blogging guidelines to Mayo staffers and allows them to represent the clinic online. Private sector companies should take these words of Mr. Aase to heart, and recognize the potential power their companies have within the organization to communicate with customers (or in this case patients, friends and families) through engaged, well-guided and social-media savvy employees:

“We have a half a million patients a year, we have 50,000 employees, and our goal with our social media team is to engage and empower them and to get them involved in the conversation, not having the top-down kind of messaging where we try to control and script everything. My position is that we can’t afford to hire enough people to communicate all things that need to happen, but we’ve got these 50,000 employees who we’re trusting to treat patients and deal with patients everyday that they can probably handle a blog too.”

He finishes the last sentence with a chuckle, as if to say, “Wouldn’t it be silly not to entrust your employees in this way?” But so many companies have yet to free corporate communications from the iron-fist clutch of the corporate communications department. Surely the possible risks of this transparency aren’t higher for a Fortune 500 company than they are for the Mayo Clinic? And the potential benefits are the same.

The Mayo Clinic’s social media engagement goes well beyond these blogs. They run a Facebook page with at last count 4,990 fans, where you can watch videos on specific health issues and Mayo clinic treatments, link to news bulletins and the main web site, and also read stories of patients and their families. These posts of course have particular word-of-mouth value as they appear on the pages of Facebook friends, coming from the most credible and trusted source of all, people they know.

The magic of Facebook was also apparent when I clicked on photos of Mayo Clinic buildings uploaded there. I didn’t find the photos particularly good — the buildings appeared monolithic and kind of scary. A place where a patient could feel lost. But these two comments about the photos erased any such impression:

Colleen Manley Wells (Orlando, FL) wrote at 1:24am on January 27th, 2009 Our favorite doctors in the whole wide world work in this building. Dr. Casler and Dr. Maples – the Wells family loves you!

Jill Hughes (Trenton / Princeton, NJ) wrote at 5:10pm on January 26th, 2009 my second home

What a great example of “patient generated content” improving significantly upon an institution’s own official communications.

The Mayo also produces a large number of podcasts dealing with health issues of all kinds that can be downloaded from the website or from i-Tunes.

The only reservation I had about the Mayo’s social media efforts was a statement on their Blog Comment Policy page. It said in effect that if you posted a comment on Mayo-sponsored blogs, you gave the Mayo Foundation the “irrevocable right” to “reproduce, distribute, publish, display, edit, modify, create derivative works from, and otherwise use your submission for any purpose in any form and on any media.”

This seems extreme and dictatorial. Surely, considering the personal dimension of health issues, patients who share stories and experiences on Mayo online properties, which are beneficial to the institution, its patients and its stake holders, should be permitted some say in how their contributions are used beyond their initial appearance. Perhaps it’s not an issue for many patients and their families, but I imagine that many people, presuming they read this regulation, would prefer not to tell their stories, or would not share as openly and honestly as they might otherwise. Would you? … Knowing your words could be edited and published anywhere without your permission, at any time in the future?

Other than that, I was inspired by the Mayo Clinic’s wholehearted embrace of social media and the rich and positive impressions it provided about the institution, its values and its dedication to patients and their families. If, God forbid, you are ever confronted with a serious illness, this is the place you want to be.